My run of Massachusetts plates is below. Massachusetts was the first
jurisdiction in the world to
register cars and issue license plates. They started in 1903. From 1903 - 1907 the
porcelain plates had "MASS. AUTOMOBILE REGISTER." across the top. You can
tell the issue year by the number. (0-3241 = 1903, 3242 - 7013 = 1904,
7014-11902 = 1905, 11903-18474 = 1906, and 1847 - 26207 = 1907.

This 1903
license plate is the 1,654th issued in the USA. It is a little banged up
and missing some corners but it is older than you are!

Many of these older
porcelain plates are a banged up.

This 1905 plate is
nearly 100 years old though!

These are examples of the 1906 and 1907 plates.

After the initial MASS AUTOMOBILE REGISTER plates, I have them in three year
groups.

Massachusetts alternated between white on blue and blue on white porcelain
until tin was used in 1916. Steel began being used in 1919. Notice
that they used a comma separator in these early years.

Note
the first "graphic" or picture on the 1928 license - a somewhat stylized cod
fish. This cod plate has a great story behind it. It is said that the cod
fishing in 1928 was particularly bad and the fishing industry was upset that the
cod was swimming away from "MASS" on the plate. In 1929 the Registry took
care of this by making the fish look more "cod-like" and swimming toward "MASS".
(see the two below) The fishing improved that year and all were happy again.
It is a great story and is even repeated on the current Massachusetts Registry
of Motor Vehicles web site. Unfortunately it is not at all true! The
fishing was not particularly bad in 1928. The swimming away was just
circumstance (note that starting in 1925 the year and MASS alternate sides).
The registrar tried to get new cod plates in 1929 but was only able to get them
on Truck plates ("B" prefix). He was fired before the cod ever made it on
to the passenger car plates.

In 1930 the plates started to alternate between red and green backgrounds.

Some of the 1935 plates had a locking year tab. The tab slide in the
back and locked in place and could not be removed.

In 1938, Massachusetts stopped using the comma separator and started using a
square dot between the numbers. During World War II there was a shortage
of steel and plates were not routinely reissued each year. Note that the
second "1942" plate below is green and not red. These green plates were
issues to new registrants in the State in 1943, this making these a 1943 plate
despite the 1942 stamp. Apparently, the higher numbered "42 greens" were
issued to new registrants in 1944. In 1945 new plates were issued again,
but the blue background was added.

Massachusetts stopped issuing plates every year in 1949 - plates were issued
for two years starting in 1949. As a result, there are no dated license
plates for the even years from 1950 - 1962. However, plates issued in
those even years to new registrants can be found if you know the right prefixes.
1950: H, J and some K (started Sept 49), 1952: E and P, 1954: E, P and L, 1956:
X and N, 1958:
U and X, 1960: (F?) X and U, and 1962: J, U, and X. Note from Bob Hoyt: Massachustetts began issuing windshield stickers to verify registration in
1950.Massacusetts issued these windshield stickers each year that they did
not issue plates.

In 1964 Mass switched from issuing plates in odd years to even years.
This was due to poor paint that was used on the 1963 paints that cracked and
peeled. (Some stories attribute this to prisoners urinating into the
paint, while others chalk it up to corrupt bidding on paint. Like the
28/29 fish story, this one has also seemed to take on a life of its own!)
Consequently, nice looking 1963 plates are hard to find. Again in 1965 no dated plate was issued, but those issued to new registrants
in 1965 had a W prefix.

Undated plates were issued starting in 1967. There are no dated plates from 1967 - 1969. However, one can once again
tell when the plates were issued by the style and letters. In 1968 the
MASSACHUSETTS across the top was flat and not punched as it was in 1967.
Those plates also had a prefix letter. New plates issued in 1969 came with
a suffix letter. Stickers began to be used to date plates in 1969 -- 1970
sticker for non-passenger vehicles and 1971 sticker for passenger vehicles.
The
only passenger plate with a 1970 sticker were rare vanity plates such as that below
with the DEC 70 sticker. Massachusetts also started staggered registrations in
1969. The month of expiration corresponded to the last number on the
plate. 1=Jan, 2=Feb, 3=Mar, etc. X for November and Y for December
were used until 1983. Passenger cars were not
re-registered in Nov or Dec. except for vanity plates after 1983 (thanks for
this info Dave Nicholson and Rich Bell!). Note that the 1974 plate below is really a
non-passenger plate!

Massachusetts first issued
green lettered plates with 2 year staggered registration in March 1977.
They still had unissued red letter plates on hand so on alternating weeks they
went back and forth until the red letter plate supply was exhausted in Spring
1978. The green letter plates ALSO were issued in all numeric format 1 to
999,999. Numbers 1-99,999 are reserved numbers Numbers 100,000 to 999,999
are generic. (Again thanks to Rich Bell!) Many of these are
still actively registered today!

Massachusetts began issuing special graphic plates with the whale
plate in 1995, followed by the Cape Cod plate and Olympic plates. The Fish
And Wildlife plate was supposed to satisfy those in the western part of the
state that wanted something other than ocean themes.

The original
whale plates were five digits only. When these ran out they used the R/W
prefix (for Right Whale) and then the R/T (for Roseate Tern). The R/T whale
plate is below

These are two of the recent Mass plates issued: A Red Sox/Jimmy Fund Plate and
Massachusetts's United We Stand 9/11 plate

Next came the Boston Bruins - Youth Hockey plate,

the Reissue of the Basketball Hall of Fame Plate (note that no month is shown
like all others!)

the Spay & Neuter - Animal Friendly Plate

the Patriots Plate honoring the 3 time Super Bowl Champs (what took so
long?)

Mass also issued plates that could only be requested by members of its sports
teams. Here are plates issued to a Bruin (Rick Middleton) and a New
England Whaler (Thomas Abrahamsson?)

Here are some miscellaneous plates from Massachusetts - they have quite a few!

The first plate in this next series is issued to members of the State House of
Representatives.

The Senate Plate is a plate
apparently used by Senators or Staffers to get parking privileges on Beacon Hill
near the State House.

Lastly there is the old Mass Turnpike plate --
note the arrow through the Pilgrim's Hat. This has since been removed because it
was either (a) not politically correct, or (b) the arrow was confusing to
motorists causing them to go in the wrong direction to get to the Pike.

This was
issued to participants of a Fortune 500 Conference held in 1997 in Boston

Here are some more miscellaneous types of plates:

These are a pair of motorcycle plates

In the 50's, those that were well connected could get a plate that had a
plaster, 3-D seal of the Commonwealth. I suspect you could park about anywhere with
these!

There are numerous Interstate or
DPU (Dept of Public Utilities) plates. These are not real licenses, but
were attached to trucks for interstate shipping purposes.

Lastly, some plates are just produced for fun
like the one below for an ALPCA regional meet in Amherst.

I hope you enjoyed this small pictorial
history of Massachusetts license plates. Email me at
plates@w-a.com if you have any questions
comments or corrections!!